Treasuries Gaining Again On Weak Homebuilding Data

By Michael Aneiro

Treasuries are gaining again Tuesday on yet another set of weak economic data that may or may not be blamed on this winter’s outrageously awful weather. The National Association of Home Builders’ Housing Market Index survey, a gauge of homebuilder sentiment, plunged by 10 points to 46 in February. Quoth the NAHB:

“Significant weather conditions across most of the country led to a decline in buyer traffic last month,” said NAHB Chairman Kevin Kelly, a home builder and developer from Wilmington, Del. “Builders also have additional concerns about meeting ongoing and future demand due to a shortage of lots and labor.”

“Clearly, constraints on the supply chain for building materials, developed lots and skilled workers are making builders worry,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “The weather also hurt retail and auto sales and this had a contributing effect on demand for new homes.”

Whatever the cause, Treasuries are gaining as a result, with the 10-year note now up 7/32 on the day to lower its yield to 2.718%, per Tradeweb data, while the 30-year bond is up 11/32 to yield 3.682%.

Amey Stone is Barron’s Income Investing blogger and Current Yield columnist. She was formerly a managing editor at CBS MoneyWatch, MSN Money and AOL DailyFinance. Her responsibilities included overseeing market coverage and personal finance topics. Prior to those roles, she was a senior writer at BusinessWeek where she authored the Street Wise column online and contributed to the magazine’s Inside Wall Street column. Topics covered included economics, corporate finance, Fed policy, municipal bonds, mutual funds and dividend investing. She co-authored King of Capital, a biography of Citigroup Chairman Sandy Weill. She is a graduate of Yale University and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.